So long and thanks for all the fish!

I'm closing some chapters and opening some new ones in 2026.

I’ve been a professional cartoonist for 20 years. I’ve been a professional podcaster for six years.

I use the term ‘professional’ quite loosely because I have qualifications in neither but make an income from both.

As it happens, I find there to be a tight relationship between my cartoons and my podcast because both are centred around overlapping talking points; one is audio and one is visual.

It works.

However, buffering against censorship has been a never-ending battle. Becoming anti-fragile is an ongoing fight.

Raging against the machine is tiring.

And often, thankless.

But there is a silver lining: I have learnt; I have matured; I have gained wisdom.

The same can be said for many of those who have followed my work and for that I am glad.

What to do? What to do?

But the reality is that I'm removing the things I no longer find valuable. I am getting rid of obstacles.

I am streamlining.

Take that which is valuable. Discard that which is not. Create what is uniquely yours.

— Bruce Lee

It's summer here as I type this, yet I've already begun spring-cleaning in preparation for the next season.

Before your brain races ahead—no, I’m not stopping my cartoons or my podcast.

But I have stepped back from some social media platforms, including X, Facebook, and YouTube.

While they certainly have value, my experience is that it's quickly undone by trolling, chaos agents, and overall toxicity—what Jordan Peterson rightly calls sociopathic behaviour. If those same people came to my house, I doubt they'd behave that way. And if they did, I’d show them the front door. My general anger has increased, and I’ve been struggling to figure out why—until recently, when it occurred to me that the reason is social media.

I am taking that which is valuable.

I am discarding that which is not.

Substack is from where I send this newsletter, but the age verification nonsense is part of a broader digital ID creep that bothers me, and I have a feeling Substack is heading in the wrong direction.

So, with that in mind, once again, I find myself at a crossroad: do I stay with Substack or do I ditch it?

The short answer is that I stay with it, but the long answer is more complex.

Gradual changes to newsletter

I have my own newsletter plugin linked to my website, jermwarfare.com, so it makes sense to use it instead of Substack—especially since I have full control over it, unlike with Substack.

Please visit jermwarfare.com and subscribe to my newsletter. It’s free. However, if you’re feeling generous, consider a paid subscription; it would help me greatly and it’s dirt cheap (and you can stop anytime).

Over the coming months, I’ll gradually increase my use of the jermwarfare.com newsletter and reduce my reliance on Substack.

Another positive outcome is that it will promote greater simplicity and minimalism.

Social media changes

As I said, I have removed some of my social media accounts. The ones that add value, I have kept.

• You can follow my Telegram channel here.

• You can follow my (brand new) WhatsApp channel here.

The WhatsApp channel is for those who refuse to use Telegram, of which there are many. In fact, most of my friends and family use WhatsApp. I’ve applied the full set of privacy options to both Telegram and WhatsApp.

I’ll repeat

My biggest upcoming shift will be to my jermwarfare.com newsletter. Again, please subscribe, if you haven’t. I want to get ahead of the digital ID garbage, and I’m sure you do too.

Plus, I’m setting up a regular video live-stream—with opinions, entertainment, news, and more—which will be viewable on my website and not on Substack.

So, in summary…

• Follow either or both my Telegram and WhatsApp channels.

• Subscribe to my newsletter at jermwarfare.com. (Preferably, a paid subscription, which also gets you full access to all my archived and other content including an upcoming regular live-stream.)

• I will gradually move away from Substack, due to the creeping digital ID nonsense.

Take that which is valuable.

Discard that which is not.

Create what is uniquely yours.